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Attorney General Bill McCollum today issued this statement following oral argument in the federal health care lawsuit brought by 20 States and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) before the U.S. District Court in Pensacola, Florida:

“The federal health care act exceeds the powers granted to the federal government by the U.S. Constitution and tramples on our Founding Fathers’ notion of federalism. It is an egregious violation of individual liberty and limited government. “If the federal government is allowed to implement the individual mandate requiring citizens to have health insurance or pay a penalty, there is essentially no limit to what government can force citizens to purchase.

“Furthermore, the federal health care act requires States to give up their free choice and sovereignty. The act commandeers state resources and manipulates state budgets to facilitate a massive expansion of the Medicaid entitlement program. It forces the States to take on a financial burden they do not want and cannot afford.

“The federal government seeks to leave the States with no real choice -States must either implement the vastly expanded Medicaid program costing Florida over a $ 1 billion a year, or unrealistically opt out of Medicaid leaving our nation’s poor without health care coverage.

“Obamacare is public policy at its worst in violation of our U.S. Constitution. I am confident the court will agree with the argument the States posed in court today and will deny the federal government’s motion to dismiss.”